The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

AT least four of more than 20 persons who have applied to be President of the College of the Bahamas will start visiting the college community as part of a vetting process soon after they are publicly identified next week, Acting COB President Dr Earla Carey-Baines said yesterday.

The news comes nearly three weeks after Dr Betsy Vogel-Boze vacated COB’s position as president and more than six months after the Council of the College of the Bahamas started the process towards selecting a Bahamian replacement for her.

“Some 20 applications were made for the post of president and we believe that speaks well of the heritage and history of our institution as well as our future plans for the college as we transition to university,” Dr Carey-Baines said.

While declining to shed light on the characteristics of the applicants and remaining candidates, she said: “We are pleased that we had over 20 applications.  Our search committee actually interviewed many of the candidates. They have narrowed that to a field of some eight applications and my understanding is at least four applicants will be invited very shortly to visit with the college community.”

Last year, COB’s council appointed a 12-member advisory search committee, chaired by retired Justice Rubie Nottage, to consider candidates for the president’s position.

The committee developed a presidential profile document, providing potential candidates with relevant information about the college and the qualifications of the new president.

Following a recruitment phase, the search committee generated a preliminary list of candidates and a shortlist of persons to be invited for subsequent interviews.

Ultimately, COB’s council will have the final say on who will be appointed the new COB president. The president’s search committee is expected to recommend someone to the council after the remaining candidates are presented to the college community for questioning and feedback.

In discussing the search for a president last year, Mrs Nottage said the successful candidate must be a Bahamian citizen, preferably with an earned doctorate degree, but not necessarily with a degree in education.

The candidate, she said, must be a transformational leader with unquestioned integrity and the capacity to inspire confidence and trust both nationally and abroad.

She said that as COB makes its transition to university next year, it is critical that the new president possesses the ability to provide moral and intellectual leadership, on campus and at the national level, on issues of importance to higher education.